


Clever Lad

by Bofur1



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Adorable Ori, Brother Relationships, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Genius Toddlers, problem solving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-25
Updated: 2013-11-25
Packaged: 2018-01-02 14:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Bofur1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nori's eyebrows are far too long and keep getting where they're not supposed to—in his eyes, in his food, etc. He doesn't know what to do with them, so his baby brother Ori takes matters into his own hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clever Lad

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ImGaladriel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImGaladriel/gifts).



> The prompt:
> 
> "Dwarves usually don't cut their hair, so maybe you could tell how Nori figured out he should braid his eyebrows into his hair."

“Don’t worry,” Dori said without turning as Nori climbed through the dining room window. “I kept your soup hot.”

Nori mumbled something that almost sounded like gratitude and slumped wearily into his seat.

“How’s your...business...going?”

“My thieving, you mean? It’s going well, thank you,” Nori replied just as sarcastically. He bent his head over his food and immediately cried out in dismay and disgust.

Dori whirled, planting his hands on his hips. “What could be so wrong with my cooking?!”

“It’s not your cooking!” Nori shouted. “It’s my blasted eyebrows!” Seizing said hair, he waved the soup-soaked ends in exasperation. “They’re too long!”

Surprised, Dori offered, “I can cut them—”

Nori shook his head, causing his eyebrows to fly back and forth most amusingly. “You know as well as I do that cutting Dwarven hair is unlucky unless it’s in mourning or shame!”

“Unlucky?” Dori scoffed. “That’s just a superstition.”

Nori rolled his eyes. “Call it dishonorable if you must. They’re just always in my face!”

“Nori, they’re _supposed_ to be.”

Cursing, Nori pushed himself away from the table. “I should’ve known you’d be unsympathetic. You probably find it funny!”

“You’re the one with all the knives,” Dori declared angrily. “Cut them yourself and say you’re in shame. You should be after all you’ve done!”

Nori growled at him. “Dori, I’m telling you nicely, don’t go there.”

Dori was about to bark back when his heated expression cooled into such gentleness Nori wasn’t sure it was the same Dwarf.

“Hey, you...should you be in bed?”

Little Ori was just learning to speak and so he sucked his thumb and remained silent. Nori turned on his heel and scooped up Ori before Dori could.

“Well, hullo there, baby brother,” Nori greeted the child with a wide grin before hoisting him onto his shoulders. Dori looked vexed as he watched the toddler sway precariously.

Ori made a sound of alarm as he started to pitch backward and seized whatever he could to stay upright. Nori yelped in pain.

“Gaah! Ori, lad, you’re pullin’ my eyebrows right up into my hair!” Suddenly realization dawned on Nori’s face. “Ori! Oh, Ori, that’s it!” Pulling his brother down as abruptly as he’d put him up, Nori pressed a kiss into Ori’s fluffy beard-fuzz. “You clever, _clever_ lad, you’ve helped me more than I can say!”

Dori was utterly confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked in bewilderment.

“You’ll see soon enough!” Nori disappeared into his room and though he waited for a while, Dori didn’t see him again that night.

=

“You’re taking even longer to do your hair than usual!” Dori shouted at the bathroom door the next morning. “What’s taking so long?”

“I’m just trying to get it right!” Nori hollered in reply.

“You’ve been doing your own hair _how_ many years?!”

The door suddenly opened. “Sixty-nine,” he answered calmly, even though the question was rhetorical.

Dori stared at him. “You...braided your eyebrows...into your hair?”

Nori shrugged with an easy smile, leaning against the doorframe. “At least it gets ‘em outta my face.”

Ori appeared from his bedroom, blinking drowsily. Nori gasped in delight.

“Good morning, you little genius!” he cried excitedly, kneeling to pull Ori into an embrace. “Now you can sit on my shoulders without tugging on my brows.” Beaming, he ran a gentle thumb over Ori’s little brows, which were at the moment knit in sleepy confusion. “Maybe someday yours will be braided like mine. Maybe it’ll become a family tradition!”

Dori groaned and buried his head in his hands.


End file.
